Page 120 - Adventure Magazine, 1921, July 18th

Sorcery and Everhard 115

because the police boats by good luck had speed, and all the time he had been closely
happened to be lying right in our course, scanning the dark waterline of the city, no
we were suddenly caught in a tight place. doubt picking out landmarks indistinguish-
If we turned, the lost motion of turning able to me.
would give the pursuers a chance to crowd "Got it, Jack? It's three blocks below
in closer, for a motor-boat can not turn on the Jennings wharf-where that double
its heels like an alarmed animal; and the green light- You've picked it up? Good!
police had the advantage of position; but if Let's go in."
in a comparatively straight line we could Tome:
go by them, the positions would be nearly "We've got a good five minutes' jump on
reversed, and they would lose the time in 'em. Work on narrow margins in this busi-
veering around. It was all a matter of not ness. Great life, Don?"
many seconds perhaps, but just at that mo- I did not think so, but it seemed no time
ment seconds were important. It looked to talk about it.
to me suspiciously as if the police had either I asked only if there were not any watch-
known, or had a pretty good idea as to what men along here. The watchmen, he said,
they were doing. had been taken care of. It was_ the way
Things happened with a rapidity that they made their living-"by being taken
necessarily makes the telling of it slow; and care of."
Lord Bob and Jackman evidently under- "Too many links," was my comment.
stood, either by stud ious prearrangement But since the importation of smoking
or by instinct, each other so well, that they opium was absolutely prohibited, and since
knew what to do. For Lord Bob sang out: people had to have it-or thought they did,
"Don't shoot. We'll stop." which as far as their efforts to get it are con-
Then: cerned amounts to the same thing-elabo-
"Kill that engine-kill 'er. The jig's rate preparations would be made for smug-
up." gling, and certain risks readily accepted.
And again- But there was no opium in the box we had.
"Don't shoot-we're stoppin'." WE GLIDED in with a dead en- -
We could see nothing, for the light was
blinding. But we could hear, faintly and gine toward the darkened .wharves,
muffled, but enough to tell what the police standing with long legs deep in the
thought. For the Sea Breeze stuck right .in -water, with a backg1ound of solidly black
the path of the nearest light as if she were sheds and warehouses-a fine place for the
coming alongside to surrender, then veered ghosts of murdered men. A street light
slightly to port, the motor gathered an un- here and there forlornly gleamed, and an
suspected burst of speed, and we went past occasional wharf light dimly burned against
the policeman near enough to have tossed a the all-encroaching night. Lord Bob stood
dollar on board. Lord Bob and I leaped in the bow with his :flashlight burning, and
over the box and went flat to the deck, not I held a boat-hook to steady us as we ran
an instant before the rifles began to crack. beside a low, flat-topped barge.
"All right, Jack?" Lord Bob called. We stopped.
"Sure am," came the answer against the "Hey," Lord Bob shouted inquiringly
wind. into the darkness.
We could see two searchlights frantically "Hands up," came the hoarse order.
waving about like the bright antennae of "We're p'lice."
some monstrous and . excited insect; and Three forms suddenly appeared, bulking
they were left far behind before they had blackly, on the edge of the barge.
picked up their speed; and we could easily "The -- you are," said Lord Bob.
outdistance them in their highest speed "We're customs. Thi is the boat an' stuff.
anyhow. So the situation was again re- P'lice boats arc layin' out to catch the other
versed; the policemen could not locate us fellow."
unless they stopped from time to time to "What other feller?" demanded the officer
listen for our motor. Or at least so we in charge, a little impressed, but wholly
thought. suspicious.
"This is where we make a break for it," Flashlights had fallen on us. We did not
said Lord Bob after twenty minutes of fast look at all like what the police imagine all